He dissected the "horns" set often used by the Chicago Bulls, who take advantage of Joakim Noah's ability to pass from the high post. He broke down the Atlanta Hawks' most-used plays, although he jokingly kicked off that portion by saying, "They kicked our butts in the playoffs, so I obviously don't know that much about what they're doing."

And he examined successful plays, using scout players from UCF, utilized by other NBA teams such as the Celtics, Lakers, Spurs and Suns.

Van Gundy, who's seen two sports psychologists this summer, certainly has a grasp of Sun Tzu's "The Art of War" and one of its most prominent teachings, "Know thy enemy."

This was the type of information Van Gundy provided during an hour-and-a-half speaking session at the Coaching U Live clinic at UCF on Thursday. Some well-known attendees of the event included Miami Heat coach Erik Spoelstra, UCF coach Donnie Jones, and St. John's coach Mike Dunlap.

Van Gundy was in full-on coach mode — something few people see except for Magic players, coaches and staff — spending most of the session diagramming plays and critiquing complex offensive sets. Even working with generic practice players he'd never met before, Van Gundy's diligence and attention to detail was evident.

But it wasn't all just Xs and Os.

Van Gundy provided some insight about the inner-workings of the Magic and his philosophy on winning in the NBA.

He discounted the importance of offensive rebounds and forcing turnovers in the NBA, saying there's no statistical correlation between those stats and winning games. The Magic were 16th in offensive rebounding rate and 14th in opponent turnover rate last season, for the record.

Most hardcore Magic fans know this, and Van Gundy reiterated it on Thursday: He doesn't like mid-range jumpers. He said free-throws, layups and three-pointers are the three types of shots he wants his team looking for, because those are the most efficient ways to put points on the board.

Van Gundy talked about the way he gets his team to work hard in the weight room: By incorporating it into practice. At the suggestion of an assistant coach, the Magic end every practice by directing half the team to hit the weights and half the team to go through shooting drills; then, once the horn sounds, they switch.

When another coach asked Van Gundy why his team shoots so many three-pointers, Van Gundy said it was a mix of his coaching philosophy and the personnel the Magic have had in seasons past.

He couldn't speak at all about the Magic's personnel, however.

Van Gundy, aware the Orlando Sentinel was in the audience, made a clarification early in his speech.

"Because of NBA rules and David Stern's fondness for taking my money – 100 grand in each of the last two years – my biggest goal is that I don't lose any money," he said, referring to the NBA's mandate that coaches don't publicly talk about the lockout or mention the names of any players. "Everything is going to be very generic when it comes to players."

Van Gundy stuck to the directive, skirting a direct mention of players' names throughout the seminar. While breaking down a half-court set the Magic like to run, he referred to guys such as Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson with vague, generic descriptions. He enthusiastically mentioned P.J. Brown when talking about a play he ran with the Heat, adding, "Hey, he's retired, I can talk about him!"

In typical Van Gundy fashion, he didn't end his speech without getting in a few lighthearted zingers.

Most of the room was filled with college coaches, and Van Gundy disapproves of the NCAA rule that allows teams to sub after a made free-throw, which stops play and allows teams to set up their defense. "You guys should really change your rules," he pleaded.

Van Gundy told a story about when he went Palo Alto, Calif. to speak to a psychologist at Stanford. He said, "I could finally tell my parents I got into Stanford. Not to go there, but just to talk to the lady."

He went over his allotted time, and insisted that it's OK if people wanted to break for lunch while he was still talking. "I sit at home in a room by myself because no one ever listens to me, so I'm used to it," he joked.

The Magic's first-round loss to the Hawks clearly weighs on him. "On their after-timeout plays, I could've given an entire clinic," he said of the Hawks. He added that the Magic's NBA Finals run in 2009 "feels like ten years ago after losing in the first round this year."

Now Van Gundy will return to his summer life, which the lockout hasn't greatly affected. It's business as usual for Van Gundy – outside of his family life, he spends his time watching film and working on team projects in the summer.

Van Gundy attended both days of the Coaching U Live clinic, grasping the opportunity to learn from other coaches that usually isn't available to him. He sat with Spoelstra and Magic assistant Steve Clifford.

"We don't usually get to go to many, because most of the coaches clinics are for college and high school guys, and most of us are in the fall and we're already going or they're in the spring and we're still going in," Van Gundy said. "It's great for us."